Map Monday: MnPass Holders in the Twin Cities Metro

I don’t pretend to know the statistical background to this, but the model’s results are interesting, showing who MnPass theoretically (and actually?) serves:

The paper estimates a binomial logit model that predicts, on the basis of aggregate characteristics of the surrounding area, the likelihood of a household having a subscription to MnPASS systems. Variables in this model include demographic factors as well as an estimate of the incremental accessibility benefit provided by the MnPASS system. This benefit is estimated with the use of detailed accessibility calculations and represents the degree to which a location’s accessibility to jobs is improved if HOT lanes are available.

I wonder how things would change if it was useful in other states, so you don’t have to pay $67 if you want to drive a rental car from Miami to Key West, or stop every 20 miles once you hit the Illinois border driving to Chicago.

You don’t have to stop in Chicago. Just pay online within a week and you are good. So I drive through all of them, and pay those in Chicago, then drive through them all on the way back, and pay at home. No need for small bills and change either.

He’s referring more to how MnPASS isn’t compatible with the system that Illinois uses (IPass). It’s really more an argument for an integrated system so that you can use one toll transponder nationwide. The closest we get is the EZPass network, which works from Illinois to North Carolina to Maine. But outside of the EZPass network, there’s a general incompatibility among states that have instituted a toll transponder system (including Minnesota).